Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #00494
To: aubois@trail.com
From: JVernonM@aol.com
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 18:21:20 EST
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: BEAM as a trademark
In a message dated 2/16/99 3:28:19 PM Eastern Standard Time, aubois@trail.com
writes:
>
> I believe that the James B. Beam Distilling Co. might wish to argue with
> you as to who has first dibs on "BEAM". And then there's Summit
> Technology's stock symbol which happens to be "BEAM". Of course, the
> people who own the www.beam.org page might be concerned or likewise a
> similar organization at http://members.aol.com/NIQUEYES/beams.html.
And
> then there is BEAM Ltd. whose page you can see at
> http://www.beam.demon.co.uk/
-- or perhaps you'd like to attend one of the
> $2300US course that covers BEAM: A Monte Carlo code to simulate
> radiotherapy treatment units... seems at least a little commercial to me.
> Then there is AT BEAM Inc., a website and multimedia development company
> whose page you can see at http://www.at-beam.com/
-- and also a band that
> plays Celtic music named BEAM in Germany. And of course you might want to
> look at Precision BEAM Technoloties at http://www.pbt.co.uk/
but I don't
> know. Or even BEAM Radio whose page is at http://www.beamradio.com/
and so
> on, ad nauseam. Although the there were quite a few references to the BEAM
> that we all know and love, the above references were found on a mere 5 Alta
> Vista search pages. The word "BEAM" is ubiquitous.
>
> For those who think that the variants of "BEAM" are not a problem, this is
> not true. There are at least two kinds of legal suits that stem from
> trademarks -- out-and-out infringement and "similarity that would cause
> confusion in the mind of the customer." Anybody remember IBM's gaffe when
> their palmtop computer had a name too much like USRobotic's machine --
> USRobotics won, btw.
>
> None of the pages quoted either of the companies (whose existence qua BEAM
> I surmise to be bogus) who supposedly hold the definitive BEAM trademark.
> These days it is hard to believe that either could exist without showing up
> on the web somewhere other than quotes from the first BEAM Olympics book.
> Alta Vista finds two references for "BEAM Robotics Inc.", one that refers
> to it being a sponsor at the Fourth BEAM Robot Olympics competition for
> which (oddly enough) the BEAM Olympics book was generated and on ancient
> "Credits and Contacts" page at the nis-www.lanl.gov site which is a carbon
> copy of what is in the book.
>
> There is, in fact, a Square Deal Productions, Inc. whose home is Prince
> Edward Island, Canada and whose site can be seen at
> http://www.fixedlink.com/
-- oddly enough, they have absolutely nothing
> whatsoever to do with BEAM robotics but concerns itself with a bridge that
> connects the island to the mainland.
>
> I still doubt that "BEAM" is trademarked in a legal, binding sense by
> anyone among the small gods or other BEAM robotics aficionados.
>
>
> Zoz
>
Actually I think you are correct. A thorough trademark search is done each
time a name or logo is submitted for trade marking or copyrighting. If these
companies exist, and I have no doubt they do, then trademarking the word would
be legally impossible. That's why lawers do the search. Patents are another
thing, and don't encompass words or logos. I may be wrong, but I have never
seen the word BEAM in conjunction with a trademark symbol. That is required to
make the art, logo, or word legally protected in the US. In order to make it
binding over seas, it must say "all rights reserved". It has been a few years
since I was personally involved in trademark and copyright questions so I may
be wrong. Also I think it is not possible to trademark a philosophy or method.
Otherwise Mcdonalds would have trademarked the cheeseburger and no one else
could make one without prior arrangement. They can however, trademark the word
and artistic representarion of the word Big Mac. That is, unless someone beat
them too it. As for patents on circuits and new devices, yes, you can patent
til you drop. When is the last time you saw a trademark symbol next to a line
from Confusious, or Carl Marx? They are philosophys, and if BEAM is only a
philosophy it can't be trademarked.
Sincerely,
Jim
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